Accelerated Maths

[magwich2]

It is also increasingly the case that the good un iversities demand to see ALL the AS module marks and grades - they can apparently obtain these directly from UCAS or many just ask applicants.
According to UCAS this is likely to increase.
Whilst it might be ok to say that you wanted a better A than was first obtained it is not going to look good at all if you got a C and had to try and improve.
Totally pointless doing AS levels early - the universities want to know that doing 4 of them at once did not overwhelm you.
It would be much more to the point in my opinion to let clever pupils do a 4 day week!

[Marylou]

If this becomes a growing trend then shouldn't universities should think about introducing some kind of age standardization? Not too sophisticated - simply based on whether an exam was taken one or two years ahead of the norm. Well if they can do it for the type of school attended...

[mitasol]

If this becomes a growing trend then shouldn't universities should think about introducing some kind of age standardization?

I read in the GSHA newsletter that they are doing some research at the moment.

http://gsha1.web.officelive.com/Documen ... 202010.pdf See page 7 Stage not age- UCAS

[magwich2]

I think the highly academic universities know that ANY half way decent candidate can get good grades- the whole point is that they want them all to be gained in one session to show that this was relatively easy for the candidate and not a terrific struggle.

[wonderwoman]

The GS and sec mod my DC attend have both stopped taking GCSEs early. They do them all in one sitting, I was a bit annoyed to be honest as the homework is demanding, but if universities are only interested in looking at one sitting I can see why.

[andyb]

I may be being dim here but why is taking a GCSE in yr10 accelerated? When I was at grammar school in the 80's we started at the school in the 2nd form after taking the 12+ and sat 9 or more O levels in the 5th form i.e. after 4 years at the school. I then passed a further optional O level in the lower 6th (yr12) after 1 years study, in addition to studying my A levels, and took an A level in the same subject in the upper 6th (yr13) again after 1 years study - that's what accelerated means to me. Now children start secondary school in year 7 and would normally sit their GCSE's in year 11 after 5 years at the school. If there were never any issues in the "olden days" about sitting O levels after a maximum of 4 years learning why is sitting GCSE's after 4 years learning accelerated? Is the workload of GCSE's more demanding than O levels? This is a genuine question as I am interested to know what happens during the extra year the children are in secondary school.

[mitasol]

I think that GCSE's and O levels are usually completed over 2 years culminating in an exam in the year you turn 16. (KS3 is 3 years) Those sitting exams in year 10 are doing a 1 year course a year early or they are shortening KS3 to 2 years and doing a two year GCSE but still a year early.

I think.

[Amber]

Mitasol is right - KS3 lasts 3 years. Most schools in my experience do start some GCSE work in Year 9 though; and the accelerated Maths we have in DD's school has involved her whizzing through the KS3 work in 2 years instead of 3 and starting GCSE stuff in Year 9. She is now at the end of the first iGCSE textbook which would usually be finished in Year 10, and the accelerated Year 9 set took the Year 10 internal exam.

Andy, your experience is not in line with most people who took O levels in the 80s in that you took a 12+ exam and so started secondary school a year later than average. Where I lived there was no 11+ and I started secondary school in Year 7 (though it wasn't called that then). We then mucked about for 3 years and started 'O' Level courses in Year 10. So it was essentially the same as now. I too did an extra couple of 'O' levels in the sixth form - you don't hear about that so much these days.

One of the problems with taking GCSEs a year early is what to do with the extra time which is freed up on the timetable, especially as it is compulsory to study Maths until the end of Year 11. This is why it is a double-edged sword- though you get a GCSE out of the way early, you end up with a load of even harder Maths to do in the time.

[magwich2]

Basically, key stage 3 is a complete waste of time.

[andyb]

Thanks for the replies. So, essentially, both O levels and GCSE's are a 2 year course and anything less than that is accelerated, got it . I suppose the main differences between then and now is the fact that the whole country starts secondary school at 11+ (rather than Bucks doing the 12+ just to be different ) and the formal introduction of key stages which I still haven't got to grips with!